British girl, five, drowns in hotel pool on holiday in Cyprus
A BRITISH girl aged five has drowned on the first day of a family holiday in Cyprus, it emerged last night.
The child was seen at the bottom of a hotel swimming pool but desperate attempts to save her failed.
The tragedy occurred at the Evalena Hotel, Protaras, on the south-east coast.
She had apparently been under water for five minutes when she was spotted by another tourist who dived in.
Police spokesman Adam Kirk said: “At about 4.15pm on Monday afternoon a five-year-old girl from England was found drowned in the pool of a hotel.
“A tourist saw the child. He took her out but it was already too late.
“It seems that the parents had not seen the child.”
A tourist saw the child. He took her out but it was already too late
An ambulance took the girl to a private clinic in Paralimni where the on-call doctor confirmed she had died. Mr Kirk said police would be examining CCTV footage of the incident.
A post-mortem examination at Larnaca hospital yesterday confirmed the cause of death.
The girl was believed to have arrived only the day before accompanied by her mother, grandparents and other relatives for a week’s holiday.
Reports in local media suggest that no lifeguard was present.